I read about Raleigh’s Coverage by Google’s street maps over at New Raleigh, and probably did what every other Raleigh resident did and I typed in my own address. It was awesome, to say the least. I can say that this feature is especially exciting for this blog.
The first thing a friend of mine (who also used to be a room mate) did was retrace steps from our house to class. I did the same thing, and was just absolutely blown away. The idea of an experience on the computer that is this close to real life is a pretty intense one.
I think the idea of a Raleigh street view with a Grand Theft Auto flavor is a bit unnerving. If you mix Raleigh street view and a Tony Hawk Skateboarding franchise, then you’ve got a hit.

An individual (who wouldn’t let me take his photograph) stated that the number of press operators working during a specific shift had been reduced from 1/2-2/3, on average. Basically, one way or another 3 people are now doing the job that recently as many as 6 or more would, and that it represented a trend. This person also referenced the buyout of Knight Ridder by The McClatchy Company on several occasions as contributing to the reduction in staff. The USA Today article says about McClatchy:

Although it owes its birth to the California Gold Rush — the chain began in 1857 with The Sacramento Bee— the company takes few risks. It focuses on small to midsize newspapers in its core markets in the Northwest or in growing communities in North and South Carolina.

And a bit more ominously:

Pruitt [CEO] says he expects to cut costs by about $60 million a year.

I’ve decided to stop appending these moving trains post titles with roman numerals. The hope is that I will continue to make these posts, and it doesn’t make sense to try and keep the running tally in my head. These photos were taken in front of the Raleigh Amtrak Station.